Stone Pale Ale 2.0 Full Details

But if companies didn't diferentiate due to non trying it would be super complicated when I finally dove into the Fast and Furious franchise by the time #8 came around.

 

Mandarina Bavaria is another hot new hop and is great for pale ales/IPA's

"The hop character is focused on the Mandarina Bavaria hop, a new varietal from Germany that, while also having a nice European spice character, brings out huge fruit notes similar to orange and peach."

 

Sounds great to me. Worth mentioning...while German, Mandarina Bavaria is closer to an American-style hop. It's a kick-ass hop, though. I'm psyched to try it.

 

Enjoy By showed that the best way to ensure people know their beer's freshness is to plaster the date across the front of the bottle. I have never heard of anyone buying out-of-day enjoy by on accident. By the same logic, one way to ensure people know a recipe has been updated is by plastering "2.0" across the front of the bottle.

Stone certainly came out with a ton of limited releases last year. I wonder if some of the updates and cutting of products this year is related.

 

True, but they redesign the car, so it is essentially a 2.0 or 3.0 or whatever. The marketing is in the redesign as much as the naming.

 

Agreed! Awesome beer with a difference. I see the final ratings settled out pretty well (3.94) but for a while there it looked to be somewhat lukewarmly received.

 

I'll give it a try & review when Greg @StoneGreg shaves his beard.

 

Well having it now. It's a C- if you grade on a curve. Really underwhelming. Nothing beyond the mouth feel being watery bad about it, but with so many beers out there. I'm not sure there's a reason to ever drink this. By far their worst in the lineup, but it's like a poor man's 2.0 with a bit more of a tropical flavor. Their old pale ale fit a missing flavor profile in their lineup. This well it's not worthy of a repeat.

Stone dropped the ball here, but I suspect it'll find a niche who's into it.

 

Looks delicious, fingers crossed it makes it my way.

 

I haven't tried this but I'm not sure how I feel about the whole 2.0 tag line. In sports, calling someone the 2.0 version of another player is understood to mean they are better, an upgrade. If the 2.0 line of beers aren't better than their predecessors then it fails. Stone is definitely setting a high expectation, which can be a good thing, assuming the majority feel that these beers live up to it, otherwise, it is most definitely a negative.

That said, I love me some Ruination 2.0.

 

That must be rough.

 

Just drank one. It was ok, not great....

 

right, but it's a bittering hop. magnum doesn't have much aroma or flavor. it can be used in any beer - from a hefeweizen to a IIPA - for nice clean bittering. herkules typically plays the same role, so the flavor and aroma of this is beer is likely all mandarina.

 

As said above. MARKETING. Everyone will lose their schitt to get their first couple six-packs. Then these will sit on the shelves the same way the "1.0's" did.

 

that's because constant improvement is standard and expected in the car industry, but not in the beer industry. Budweiser probably tastes the same as it did 50 years ago.

why does this have to be dismissed as simply marketing? That is such a pessimistic and cynical take on it in my opinion. It looks to me like a beer company making beer and having fun with it. Stone makes interesting beers and is always trying something new. There are other breweries that do the same thing, but whenever anyone mentions Stone, its always "marketing".

 

I really was pointing it out from a construction stand point you start with a classic pale ale bittering hop and then Mandarina is a Cascade cultivar, so really, how far off the rails is Stone really going here? Not far imo...

 

Mandarina was the result is cross pollination of a female Cascade and a male Hallertau variety. Not exactly a Cascade cultivar. It is fruity, the similarities to Mandarine oranges is evident to me.

 

Oh yes, I remember that one. Definitely different.

 

Though I have yet to try this (or the original), I am struggling to understand what makes this an APA. Based on the description, it doesn't seem to be particularly American or Pale.

 

Stone never claimed it was an american pale ale, just a pale ale, and it sounds like this has a pretty hefty malt bill from the tasting notes and reviews so I think it still fits the bill for a pale ale.